Nirva, who had been staring at the sleeping Rene, lifted his head to look at the sky.

Although he had subdued Rudger Chelici, who could be considered the greatest threat, he couldn't be happy.

He had just crossed one big mountain but still had many small matters that needed to be resolved.

In Nirva's eyes were reflected the figures of people who had entered the Sacred Library.

"They've already come this far. That's fast."

It meant that the fight with Rudger had been long, but the humans' speed was faster than expected.

"So that person called the Chancellor of Theon has joined forces with the Dream Walkers."

Nirva had sent five subordinates to eliminate the dangerous elements but all five subordinates had been defeated, and those people had managed to kill three of them.

They were quite formidable and he couldn't ignore such danger.

"Hmm. And that old woman looks familiar somehow."

Nirva stroked his chin as he stared at Clara Cowen.

The enormous dream energy emanating from her showed that she was definitely not an ordinary magician.

Golden dust flew in and circled around Nirva's head.

Nirva read her consciousness and the minds of the people around her through the Dreamland to gather information.

When Nirva opened his eyes after closing them briefly, information about Clara Cowen accumulated rapidly in his mind.

"A Dream Master of the Dreamwalker School? So you're the leader of humans who arbitrarily enter the Goddess's world. Come to think of it, a similar person came here several decades ago."

Nirva, who had been stroking his chin, didn't think much of it.

Dream Master or not, she remained someone to be wary of.

Although she was an elderly woman, that was precisely why he couldn't let his guard down.

The years and experience she had accumulated would surely demonstrate incredible power in this Dreamland.

Nirva thought about eliminating all of them right away but quickly modified that thought.

'I've consumed too much power.'

The reason was obvious.

Nirva's gaze turned toward the sleeping Rudger.

Although he had fought as if wielding great powers on the surface, the battle with Rudger had been quite overwhelming for Nirva as well.

While he demonstrated absolute power in the Dreamland, that didn't mean he was omnipotent.

He was just extremely powerful, but like anyone else, he would get tired from fighting.

Using a significant amount of his power to cover the entire city of Leathervelk with dream sand was also a reason if anything.

'In my current state, I can't play tricks on the guests up there.'

Even Nirva needed time to recover his strength right now.

'To think I'd end up like this because of just one human.'

He needed to find the other stragglers who had fallen here with Rudger, but he didn't have the luxury to do so.

Rudger alone had effectively saved multiple human lives.

This made it understandable why that fellow Zero Order could make such big claims.

"But it won't take that long."

He didn't need to recover all his strength.

He just needed to recover enough to crush those humans.

And that time wouldn't take very long.

Rather, time was on Nirva's side.

Even now, in real-time, the dream energy of people who had fallen into the Dreamland was continuously arriving at the depths.

Translucent green soul-like entities could be seen crossing the sky, heading toward a distant obelisk.

The sight was like meteor showers being drawn into something.

The more energy Noxana absorbed, the more she would float toward the world of consciousness.

And the moment she fully opened her eyes, this world would soon become reality rather than a dream.

For that to happen, he had no choice but to exert himself.

"I've certainly aged quite a bit."

Nirva let out a small sigh and closed his eyes, entering meditation, to welcome the guests who would soon arrive.

* * *

"Oh my. It seems I've seen the very sight I shouldn't have."

Zantman, who was hiding, broke out in a cold sweat as he watched Nirva entering meditation.

Around Zantman were Sedina, Seridan, and Hans.

"W-what's going on? We're too far away to see."

The place where they were hiding was very far from Nirva.

Not only had they kept their distance, but they were also concealing themselves using Zantman's magic.

The reason was obviously due to the battle between Rudger and Nirva.

"T-teacher, what happened to him? That intense battle suddenly stopped."

Sedina asked with a trembling voice.

The massive collision of powers was clearly visible even from a distance of several kilometers.

The great sword that split the dark clouds.

The sand waves that seemed to reach the sky.

Even the clash of forces that made their skin tremble.

Now that the battle was over, the current silence was eerily chilling.

Instinct whispered that something bad had happened.

After considering how to respond to Sedina's question, Zantman decided to be honest.

"Teacher Rudger lost."

The impact of that one statement was tremendous.

Hans, Sedina, and Seridan's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

Rudger lost?

They simply couldn't picture that scene in their minds.

"D-does that mean the teacher is dead?"

"No. That's not it."

Zantman's gaze turned toward the distant sleeping Rudger.

"The teacher is still alive. I don't know what Nirva is thinking, but he seems to be in a situation where he can't directly kill the teacher. So for now, he's just subdued him by putting him to sleep."

It was fortunate amid misfortune.

As long as Rudger was alive, there was still hope.

"Subdued rather than killed, huh."

Hans stroked his chin.

Now that Rudger had been defeated, it was inevitable to be surprised and bewildered, but they couldn't afford to panic.

"What's the current state of that demon?"

"He's closed his eyes and is meditating. Looks like he consumed a lot of power fighting the teacher."

"Then..."

"Hold on. Now is not the right time. Yes, the teacher depleted his power, but as we are now, we'd just be quickly defeated if we went."

Zantman, who had observed this battle from the middle, knew how powerful Nirva was.

In his current state, it would be difficult to face Nirva.

If he were alone, perhaps, but he had three people to protect through Siesta.

If they rashly stepped forward, they would only increase the number of victims.

"So you're saying we should just keep watching?"

"There's nothing we can do right now. But if reinforcements arrive soon, the story changes."

Zantman assessed the situation.

Even though Rudger had sapped Nirva's strength, Zantman couldn't win against Nirva.

This wasn't about being afraid or not. Even if Zantman could implement just a part of the battle Nirva had shown, he wouldn't leave even a bone behind.

What was needed right now was reinforcement from the school members.

That old hag Clara would have recognized the seriousness of the situation and should be coming as quickly as possible.

Zantman's thought was that after joining with her, they should face Nirva by combining their strength.

"Ah, this is really troublesome."

Clearly, rationally speaking, that was the right approach, but somehow something felt instinctively off.

Zantman considered the worst-case scenario.

What if the reinforcements of magicians, including Clara Cowen, were defeated by Nirva?

At first, that future wasn't easily imaginable, but after seeing the battle earlier, his thoughts changed.

Rudger Chelici was the key to defeat Nirva.

'Come to think of it, the old hag repeatedly pleaded with me to take care of the teacher.'

Although Rudger had shown extraordinary aspects before, after seeing him fight Nirva just now, Zantman was convinced.

Rudger Chelici was the only person who could defeat the demon Nirva.

'The problem is that the teacher is now subdued.'

If he had been beaten purely on skill, Zantman would have judged there was no hope.

But Rudger hadn't been defeated by the logic of power.

Cunningly, Nirva had taken a Theon student hostage and plunged Rudger into a dream.

'There's a reason why even that demon can't do whatever he wants with the teacher. So he put him to sleep using the hostage to delay time as much as possible.'

If it had been a fair fight, he wouldn't have been defeated like this.

What was important now was Rudger's well-being.

"The one fortunate thing is that the demon doesn't seem able to do anything to the teacher right now. But I don't think the teacher will wake up if we leave him like this. The dream the teacher has fallen into is not a simple dream. The possibility of waking up on his own is practically non-existent."

The three people who vaguely guessed what Zantman was trying to say all focused their attention.

"We need to move assuming the worst-case scenario. So my thought is this: we need to somehow extract the teacher who's being held hostage over there."

"What will we do once we rescue brother? Shake him to wake him up?"

"Would he wake up just by shaking him? If we're going to do it, we need to wake him properly."

Saying that, Zantman took out a flask from his inner pocket.

"That's..."

"How do you think people die in the Dreamland?"

No one answered that question.

To begin with, the concept of death in the Dreamland was very unfamiliar.

Zantman decided to explain kindly.

"There's a phenomenon called Dream Binding. It refers to when a person who has fallen asleep in the Dreamland becomes integrated with this world, which is essentially regarded as death."

"You're saying someone falls asleep in a dream, which is already a dream?"

"If all your dream energy is consumed, that's what happens. You fall into a dream within a dream and sleep a sleep from which you can't wake up. You understand that's no different from dying, right?"

Zantman shook the flask in his hand.

The bluish liquid inside sloshed along with the movement.

"This is a medicine that wakes people who have fallen into that sleep."

"You're saying such a thing exists?"

"Yes. But it's absolutely not a simple item. This is like a spare life given only to Dream Walkers who can dive below the middle layer's bottom."

It's a rare item that can only be used in truly urgent moments.

Due to the rare ingredients needed for its creation and the long production time, it's a potion that only a very small number of Dream Walkers can possess.

"But if you use that, Grandpa Zantman..."

At Sedina's worried voice, Zantman grinned.

"If we don't use it here, we'll all die anyway, so how could I save it? Besides, don't be too happy. There's no guarantee that the teacher will wake up even if we use this. It's just that there's no harm in trying."

"Still, isn't it worth a try?"

At Seridan's question, Zantman nodded.

He could have complained about the informal speech, but Zantman didn't bother to quibble about it.

"But we can't go rescue him right now. That demon is currently in meditation, but if I approach even a little, he'll notice immediately."

This was the reason why they were hiding even though they were far away.

If Nirva decided to, their hiding place would be exposed immediately.

The fact that he wasn't doing so meant either Nirva didn't have the luxury or, more likely, he didn't have the will to do so.

If they closed the distance even slightly, Nirva would break his meditation and immediately start hunting bugs.

"So you're saying we should wait and observe for now? What if that demon completely recovers his strength while we're waiting?"

"Yes, that's the problem."

This was exactly the dilemma Zantman faced.

In his thinking, the best formula for victory required Rudger.

For that, they needed to extract the sleeping Rudger, but this was impossible because of Nirva guarding nearby.

The most stable path was to wait for reinforcements that would soon arrive but they didn't know when they would arrive.

What if, by the time they arrived, Nirva had finished his meditation and fully recovered his strength?

Even if they were Dream Walkers including Clara, could they stand against that demon unscathed?

'It would be good if we could at least buy time. Victory is hard to envision.'

To maximize that possibility, they needed to disrupt Nirva's recovery immediately.

But the only one who could move from here was Zantman himself.

"...Tsk. In the end, this is the only way, isn't it?"

With those words, Zantman removed one of the Siestas he was wearing on his left hand and passed it to Sedina.

Sedina received it in bewilderment and looked up at Zantman with a puzzled expression.

"Grandpa? Why are you giving this to me...?"

"You'll need it if you want to move separately from me."

"Why are you suddenly saying such things?"

Perhaps because she sensed something in Zantman's voice, Sedina's eyes trembled with anxiety.

Seridan, who was watching this scene, narrowed her eyes.

"Grandpa. Don't tell me you're thinking of going to fight that demon alone?"

At those words, Hans and Sedina stared at Zantman with surprised eyes.

Zantman didn't answer and just chuckled while stroking his beard.